The next day, Chen Wen finally began his work.

He went back to the traps he had previously set, finding them beneath the heavy snow and digging them out.

"Tsk, this snowfall did affect me a bit."

Chen Wen said, clapping his hands, "At least thirty percent of my snare traps are gone, but it doesn’t bother me much. I don’t need traps to hunt right now."

The purpose of this trip was to bring all the snare traps back to the shelter.

Once back at the shelter,

Chen Wen planned to visit the ice fishing spot he had carved out before, to see what the situation was like there now.

On the lake surface,

Due to the heavy snow, a thick layer of snow covered the Great Slave Lake.

Meanwhile, the strong wind had turned this layer of snow into a bumpy surface, deep in some places, shallow in others.

Chen Wen marked his path with leftover wooden scraps from his tools to ensure he wouldn’t get lost.

Soon, he arrived at the fishing spot.

The fishing hole was already frozen over, but due to Chen Wen’s previous digging, it appeared slightly sunken.

From the outside, it was quite obvious.

Chen Wen swung his axe with force at the fishing hole, testing the thickness of the ice.

"Not too bad, it’s not ridiculously thick. I can continue ice fishing here."

As Chen Wen spoke, the Eagle that accompanied him suddenly said, "Chen Wen, look at the ground."

Upon hearing the Eagle’s reminder, Chen Wen instinctively looked at the ground around him.

To his surprise, there was a long trail of footprints in the snow nearby.

They passed from his current location, extending to an island in the middle of the lake, while the other end stretched towards the vast land.

"This... doesn’t look like a carnivore."

Chen Wen examined the tracks in the snow and approached them with the Eagle, "The snow here is fairly thick. If it were a carnivore, its height would make the trail look like a continuous line."

"But these markings have quite a long distance between them and are not dragged in a line, which makes them look like they were left by a taller animal."

"Hmm, seeing only one set of footprints, could it be a moose?"

After carefully examining the footprints nearby, Chen Wen nodded in confirmation.

It was indeed a moose!

"What’s a moose?"

The Eagle asked curiously.

Chen Wen used a long spear to draw a simple outline of a moose on the ground.

The Eagle was taken aback by what it saw.

"So those huge creatures are moose!"

Huge was an appropriate description.

"But right now, we have no conflict with the moose. It goes its way, we go ours. If we run out of food, then it’s up to you."

Chen Wen chuckled, "Your sharp eyes can visually lock onto the island where the moose is active. Then we can go to the island and take the moose down!"

Upon hearing this, the Eagle immediately perked up.

It quickly said, "Let’s go get it now! How about that?"

Now?

Chen Wen shook his head, rejecting the Eagle’s suggestion.

As long as food was sufficient, he didn’t want to engage in pointless killing.

The Eagle wasn’t bothered by it.

It differed somewhat from the Wolf Mink.

If it were the Wolf Mink, it would absolutely howl and go after the moose.

After inspecting for a little while longer, Chen Wen headed back with the Eagle.

The snow hadn’t stopped, and staying on the lake too long could make the way back unrecognizable.

Getting lost would be quite troublesome.

...

Soon, it was evening.

At the shelter, Chen Wen "hosted" a feast for the animals, making a very delicious bone broth.

Everyone ate meat, drank soup, and they were very happy.

But just as Chen Wen was devouring the meat and gulping down the soup.

At Great Slave Lake,

A huge shadow wobbled across the ice from the land, slowly making its way to an island in the lake. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

This giant seemed very wary of slipping.

With each step, it carefully ensured the ground was stable before moving forward.

The speed was extremely slow.

However, the route of this gigantic shadow was very similar to the line of footprints Chen Wen had seen before.

To be precise, those footprints were left by this creature!

This was a massive moose!

Pretty soon, it reached the spot where Chen Wen had paused earlier.

By coincidence, as the moose halted and steadied its large body, it suddenly noticed the marks left by Chen Wen.

Specifically, it was the drawing Chen Wen made of a moose.

What’s this?

The moose, curious, lowered its head to carefully inspect the marks on the snow.

A moment later, as if amused by what it saw, it let out a few low growls.

The moose moved its large head aside, along with its giant antlers.

It continued to strut along its previous path, leisurely progressing forward.

...

Over the following week, the snowfall over Great Slave Lake continued incessantly.

Sometimes heavier, sometimes lighter.

When the snow finally accumulated to nearly seventy centimeters, this large-scale snowfall concluded.

In the morning, the Red Fox, observing the absence of snow, excitedly conveyed this news to Chen Wen.

Chen Wen eagerly stepped out of the shelter.

Gazing at the snowless sky and the nearly silver-white shores of Great Slave Lake, he exclaimed, "It finally stopped!"

"Right now, with the situation as it is, I suppose we’re snowed in?"

Nearly seventy centimeters of snow piled up around the Great Slave Lake made it extremely challenging for anyone or any animal to walk over the snow.

Currently, it was time for those meant to hibernate to hibernate, and those meant to migrate to migrate.

Besides some animals that can walk on the snow, most won’t linger here.

"If I hadn’t stocked up on food earlier, in a situation like this, hunting? Hunt what, an egg?"

Chen Wen shook his head, silently mourning for those who hadn’t completed their food reserves.

Those with inadequate food reserves were basically waiting to be sent home.

"Never mind, I won’t worry about it anymore!"

Chen Wen returned to the shelter, excitedly bringing out his upgraded ice fishing equipment.

On the original setup, Chen Wen replaced the wooden block seat with an actual wooden bench, constructed from dismantled snare traps and planks.

Other devices were also replaced, looking a bit more professional than before.

Chen Wen called on the Stoat, who had already adjusted its circadian rhythm, along with the Eagle, planning to head out for ice fishing.

The Coyote stayed in the shelter, teaching its younglings hunting techniques.

The other animals went out to find hares to pick a fight with.

Chen Wen, watching the excited Wolf Mink, the eager Red Fox, and the old Wolf teaching the youngsters how to hunt,

briefly mourned for the hares around the shelter.

But soon, Chen Wen cheerfully went fishing.

The Wolf Mink and others, seeing Chen Wen’s excitement, couldn’t help but shed a few tears for the fish in Great Slave Lake.

Of course, it was tears down their throat into their belly.

After all, most of the fish caught by Chen Wen, aside from some fish meat saved as bait, he ate part of it himself.

But the majority of the fish went into the bellies of the Wolf Mink and others.

"Operation, go!"

With a howl, the Wolf Mink ordered, and the animals sprang into action.